Are you taking the train in China and need tickets? Are you unsure how to buy train tickets in China? In this lesson, we will learn all about it.

To purchase a train ticket in Mainland China, you can go to any railway station a maximum of 58 days ahead of departure. Unfortunately, in many places it is difficult to buy tickets using only English, so let’s learn how to say “I want to buy a train ticket” in Chinese.

Hover over any word to show translation

nǐ hǎo

你好

你好

Hello!

！

wǒ

我

我

I

yào

要

要

to want, to ask for

mǎi

买

買

to buy, to purchase

huǒ chē

火车

火車

train

piào

票

票

ticket

。

Hello! I would like to buy a train ticket.

Character set

Pinyin

You can also use a numeral-classifier compound in the sentence to express how many tickets you want.

Hover over any word to show translation

nǐ hǎo

你好

你好

Hello!, Hi!

！

wǒ

我

我

I, me

yào

要

要

to want, to ask for

mǎi

买

買

to buy, to purchase

liǎng

两

兩

two

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

huǒ chē

火车

火車

train

piào

票

票

ticket

。

Hello! I would like to buy two train tickets.

Character set

Pinyin

“张 [zhāng]” is the classifier for flat objects, like sheets of paper. To express the number of tickets wanted, we use “number+张”. Here are some examples of how you can use 张.

Hover over any word to show translation

yì

1

1

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

huǒ chē

火车

火車

train

piào

票

票

ticket

/

liǎng

两

兩

two

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

zhǐ

纸

紙

paper

/

wǔ

5

5

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

zhuō zi

桌子

桌子

table, desk

/

shí

10

10

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

chuáng

床

床

bed

1 train ticket / 2 sheets of paper / 5 tables / 10 Beds

Character set

Pinyin

Ok, now the staff knows how many train tickets you want. But you have to tell them when and where you want to go, right? Let’s see how you do that!

Hover over any word to show translation

wǒ

我

我

I

yào

要

要

to want, to ask for

mǎi

买

買

to buy, to purchase

sān

3

3

yuè

月

月

month

yī

1

1

hào

号

號

day of a month

cóng

从

從

from

běi jīng

北京

北京

Beijing

dào

到

到

to (a place)

shàng hǎi

上海

上海

Shanghai

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

（

huǒ chē

火车

火車

train

piào

票

票

ticket

），

shí jiān

时间

時間

time

yuè

越

越

the more... the more

zǎo

早

早

early

yuè

越

越

the more... the more

hǎo

好

好

good, well

。

I would like to buy a ticket for March 1st, from Beijing to Shanghai. The earlier in the morning the better.

Character set

Pinyin

Let's take a quick look at some of the grammar structures in the above sentence.

从[cóng]～到[dào]～ From~to~

The expression 从～到 (from..to) can be used for both for time and places, to express e.g.: from one place to another, from one time to another.

The above example can be used when you don't know the train timetable, to let the staff give you some options for departure time. If you know the timetable however, you can tell staff the correct time of course. In that situation, you can say like this:

Hover over any word to show translation

wǒ

我

我

I

yào

要

要

to want, to ask for

mǎi

买

買

to buy, to purchase

sān

3

3

yuè

月

月

month

liù

6

6

hào

号

號

day of a month

xià wǔ

下午

下午

afternoon

yī

1

1

diǎn

点

點

o'clock

èr shí

20

20

fēn

分

分

minute

cóng

从

從

from

shàng hǎi

上海

上海

Shanghai

dào

到

到

to (a place)

běi jīng

北京

北京

Beijing

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

yìng wò

硬卧

硬臥

hard sleeper

piào

票

票

ticket

。

I would like to buy a hard sleeper ticket for March 6th at 1:20 PM, from Shanghai to Beijing.

Character set

Pinyin

硬卧[yìng wò] is short for 硬席卧铺[yìng xí wò pù], which is a sleeper train ticket class with a hard bunk bed. China is very big, and if you want to take a train from Guangxi Nanning to Beijing it will be take around 28 hours, so it’s better to have a bed to sleep in. The 硬卧 also has three types, which are 上铺[shàng pù] （upper bunk）, 中铺[zhōng pù] （middle bunk）, 下铺[xià pù] （lower bunk）.

Ok! Now we can say the time, the destination and the type of seat we want! But we still cannot buy a ticket! Why? Because we have to show our passport or identity card. In China, your name and your passport number will be printed on the ticket, and only the person on the ticket can ride the train.

Hover over any word to show translation

zhè

这

這

this

shì

是

是

is

wǒ

我

我

I, my

de

的

的

~'s (possessive particle)

hù zhào

护照

護照

passport

。/

zhè

这

這

this

shì

是

是

is

wǒ

我

我

I, my

de

的

的

~'s (possessive particle)

shēn fèn zhèng

身份证

身份證

identity card

。

Here is my passport. Here is my ID.

Character set

Pinyin

Now we know all we need to know! Let's summarize:

Hover over any word to show translation

nǐ hǎo

你好

你好

Hello!, Hi!

。

wǒ

我

我

I, me

yào

要

要

to want, to ask for

mǎi

买

買

to buy, to purchase

liǎng

两

兩

two

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

huǒ chē

火车

火車

train

piào

票

票

ticket

。

yì

1

1

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

shì

是

是

is, are

sān

3

3

yuè

月

月

month

yī

1

1

hào

号

號

day of a month

cóng

从

從

from

běi jīng

北京

北京

Beijing, capital of People's Republic of China

dào

到

到

to (a place)

shàng hǎi

上海

上海

Shanghai

de

的

的

(used to form a nominal expression)

，

shí jiān

时间

時間

time, period

yuè

越

越

the more... the more

zǎo

早

早

early

yuè

越

越

the more... the more

hǎo

好

好

good, well

。

yì

1

1

zhāng

张

張

classifier for flat objects, sheet

shì

是

是

is, are

sān

3

3

yuè

月

月

month

liù

6

6

hào

号

號

day of a month

xià wǔ

下午

下午

afternoon, p.m.

cóng

从

從

from

shàng hǎi

上海

上海

Shanghai

dào

到

到

to (a place)

běi jīng

北京

北京

Beijing, capital of People's Republic of China

de

的

的

(used to form a nominal expression)

，

jià gé

价格

價格

price

yuè

越

越

the more... the more

pián yi

便宜

便宜

cheap, inexpensive

yuè

越

越

the more... the more

hǎo

好

好

good, well

。

zhè

这

這

this, these

shì

是

是

is, are

wǒ

我

我

I, me

de

的

的

(used after an attribute)

hù zhào

护照

護照

passport

，

xiè xie

谢谢

謝謝

thanks, thank you

！

Hello. I would like to buy two train tickets. One for March 1st, from Beijing to Shanghai. The earlier in the day the better. One for March 6th in the afternoon, from Shanghai to Beijing. The cheaper the price the better. Here is my passport, thank you!

Character set

Pinyin

Finally you can get your ticket!

But, oh no! The ticket is entirely in Chinese!! How do you read it? Let's have a look.

Now you have your ticket and can get on the right train!
Have a nice trip!

This is the accompanying blog post for our newbie lesson "Buying Train Tickets".You can read the entire lesson for free using Du Chinese, available for iPhone and Android.Click here for more information.